New York Doppleganger
by MaryFan1
Summary: This idea just came to me. Mary Richards and Lou Grant are married, with a daughter, and move to New York, where they move across the street from Rob and Laura Petrie. You know what they say, everyone has a twin. But is it more than a coincidence?


Millie Helper knocked on the door of the house down the street. New neighbors had moved in and she couldn't believe what Susan White had told her about them, so she rushed over to introduce herself.

"Just a minute." She heard a female voice call then the door opened

"Yes?" An attractive woman in her early forties smiled a friendly smile

"Laura." Millie breathed out

"No, Mary." The woman responded, "Can I help you?"

"Oh, well, uh, I'm uh, Mildred Helper, your neighbor." She stammered, "But you can call me Millie."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, please come in." Mary opened the door for her enter, "You'll have to excuse the mess, we just moved in yesterday."

Millie looked around and there were numerous boxes among the furniture, "Yeah, Susan told me."

"Susan?" Mary thought, "Oh, Susan White. She was here about an hour ago. You know, she called me Laura, too. I must have a twin or something."

"Oh boy, do you ever." Millie muttered

"I'm sorry." Mary said

"Oh, nothing," Millie turned to her, "I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Well, I appreciate that. We don't really know anyone here. I have a friend who lives in the city but that's about it." Mary said referring to her friend Rhoda Morgenstern, "Why don't you sit down and we can have some coffee, I could use a break from unpacking."

"Alright, that would be nice." Mille took a seat at the dining table

"Great." Mary said walking over to the breakfast bar and pouring two cups of coffee and sat down across from her.

"So, Mary is it?" Millie began, "Tell me about yourself," she paused, "You don't by any chance have a son, do you?"

Mary smiled, "No, an eight year old daughter, Lily. She and my husband went to the store. We don't have anything. We ate pizza and slept on the floor last night. Our furniture didn't come until this morning."

"What's your husband's name?" Millie asked unable to stop staring at her

"Lou," she answered, "We moved here from Minneapolis. We worked for a small TV station there but found ourselves both out of a job when new owners took over. My friend talked us into visiting her and looking for jobs here after we couldn't find anything there."

"So you both work?" Millie asked, "In television?"

"It's not as glamorous as it sounds," Mary assured her, "We produced the six o'clock news in Minneapolis. He starts Monday writing for the Associated Press. I got a job with the ABC affiliate."

"Sounds pretty exciting to me." Millie told her, "My husband is a dentist and I do some volunteer work."

"I wish I had the time. I could probably quit work but I really love it." Mary took a drink of her coffee

"Well, I think you'll like living here. It's a great place to raise a family and the schools are very good." Millie assured her

"It is a lovely neighborhood and there seem to be several children our daughter's age," Mary observed, "In fact, Susan mentioned something about the couple across the street, the Petries, that they have a boy her age."

"Yes, they do, Richie." Millie told her

"She seemed anxious for me to meet them. I guess since we have kids the same age." Mary assumed

"Yes, that must be it." Millie said, "They are out of town until tomorrow," She explained, "Well, I really should be going, I have to get dinner started. It was nice to meet you, Mary."

"It was really nice meeting you too, Millie," Mary said getting up and walking her to the door, "Come by any time."

"Of course, I'll come with my husband next time. I know he'll want to me you once I've told him what friendly neighbors you are. Bye, now."

"Bye," Mary shut the door behind her

Millie raced home and found her husband Jerry in the garage, "Jerry, you aren't going to believe this. I just met one of our new neighbors."

"You're right, I don't believe it." He said sarcastically

"I'm telling you, you aren't going to believe it. I couldn't believe it." Millie insisted

"Believe what?" He asked

"She looks just like Laura."

TBC….The Petries and The Grants meet for the first time


End file.
